Road Trip
by youre-my-definition-of-fun
Summary: Terra skips town after high school ends, but ends up meeting a mysterious stranger who joins her own her journey. Or more like casually and coincidentally ends up in the same place as she is. Terra reluctantly welcomes a new face, even a masked face, as long as she doesn't have to pretend anymore. Post-things change. (RedTerra)
1. Chapter 1

The sun was bright and shimmering over the waters. A young blonde girl was sat on the rocks watching the waves roll onto the shore. She looked out at the T-shaped tower in the distance before she left. As she got up and started brushing the dirt off her hands and skirt, she noticed two figures running towards her.

"Terra!" one of the figures yelled from across the distance. _Amber and Dionne, it figures they'd come looking for me._

"Hey girl! Where've you been? As soon as school let out, you just up and left in a hurry and didn't bother to say goodbye!" Amber said with a small pout.

Terra refused to meet her eyes. Dionne noticed the distance between them and continued on the other girl's behalf. "Yeah, like, I feel ya and stuff. I'm so done with highschool, but c'mon. I'd like to think we still have each other after graduation.. don't you?"

A strand of hair fell into Terra's face and she brushed it away quickly. Finally, she looked at her two friends. "Yeah.. sorry about that. I just.." she paused and looked out over the waters again. "I have a lot of stuff to take care of this summer, kinda need to hit the road and stuff."

The two girls stared at her in disbelief. "What? You mean.. you're leaving Jump City? Why..?" Amber asked, not bothering to hide the hurt in her voice.

Dionne just blinked at her, waiting for her answer. "Come on, don't act like that. It's not like I'm leaving forever and won't ever see you again. I just have things to take care of. Ya know.. before college and all that. You understand, right?" She looked at them for a moment before continuing, "Besides, I don't know what that city would do with all three of us on the loose this summer!" Terra forced a small chuckle. "You'll have tons of fun, I'm sure, even without me."

There was a moment of silence before Dionne spoke, "Well.. this summer will be a hell've'a lot more boring without'chya. We're gonna miss you." She hugged the blonde and Amber joined in after her.

"Promise we'll hear from you soon?"

"You can bet on it." Terra smiled through that lie. "I'll see you guys around, okay?" She said as she started to back away. They took the hint that it was time to go and waved goodbye before turning away. Terra let out a breath, she could have lived without dealing with that dramatic nonsense. She would have preferred to just slip away without anyone noticing. _I hate goodbyes,_ she thought looking over at the T-tower again, _they never are a good thing._

* * *

The sun was low in the sky by the time that Terra had finished changing and packing. She traded her school uniform for a more comfortable outfit, blue jean shorts and a black tanktop with her blue jacket tied around her waist. She also traded her mary jane's and knee high socks for her old brown boots. Terra looked around the room once more, _I guess there's nothing left for me to do here. Nothing left for me here._ She sighed and pulled her backpack straps onto her shoulders.

Despite it being late in the day, the air was still humid. Terra walked a familiar dirt road outside of town towards where she first met the Titans. Night started settling in as Terra made it to the city limits. She looked over her shoulder once more before she started again. But as she moved to take another step, she heard a sound, a footstep. Terra froze, but quickly regained composure. Placing a hand on a carving knife in her belt, she turned to her side, ready to fight off whoever or whatever lurked in the shadows.

There was nothing on these dirt roads aside from dirt. Rocky terrain covered the areas on the sides of the road as far as the eye could see. Nothing but mountains of rocks littered the terrain.

"Ah, so you did notice me following you around? I was beginning to feel a little underappreciated." The voice sounded deep but as though it were talking through a mask. Looking into the darkness, she suddenly saw a silhouette of a person near a large boulder. Terra squinted as she tried to make out who the person was. "City life just not do it for you?" The voice asked as it came closer.

In the moonlight, Terra could make out the stranger's features. A suit with a black cape and a red x on the front.. _Red X! But.. Robin was Red X and that was so long ago.._ Terra was thoroughly confused, staring down the man in front of her.

"Sure, it's not the most charming city in the world. I'm a bit curious what sins it committed to make someone like you leave in the middle of the night." The voice continued.

"Excuse me?"

"The reason you're leaving. I was asking-"

"I don't have to answer to you, I don't even know who you are." Terra curtly replied, cutting him off mid-sentence. _I don't think it's Robin.. he would know why I don't want to live here. But even if it is, I "don't remember" who he is._

"Red-X. Nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand, but Terra did nothing but stare at it until he retreated.

A moment passed, nothing but the wind blowing filled their ears. "Can I help you?" Terra finally broke the silence, doing nothing to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"A mysterious stranger like myself can't chat up a pretty thing like you without needing help?" He asked with what sounded like a smile in his voice. "It must be the suit and the voice. I give off the suspicious bad guy vibes, huh?" Red X paused to look at her before he shrugged nonchalantly. "Look, I'm leaving this place too. I just saw you doing the same thing and it peaked my interest. Nothing more."

Terra stared at Red X in silence, unsure of what to say or what to even make of him or this interaction in general. "Nice talk. If you happen along my path again, maybe we'll have a more interesting one?" He prompted, waiting for a reply. "See ya, kid." Red X said with a wave of his hand as he started off towards the shadows.

"Terra." She spoke to the barely visible figure. She watched him pause at her sudden reply before nodding and continuing onwards into the darkness. Terra watched after the shadows long after Red X had disappeared. Finally, she shook her head to get rid of all her thoughts surrounding him and what just happened as she continued on her path with nothing but the moonlight guiding her way.


	2. Chapter 2

Terra had been walking for several hours in what felt like the middle of nowhere. _I'm pretty sure it didn't take this long to get from place to place before,_ she thought with annoyance. There was a faint glow in the air with the barely visible sun starting to rise again. As Terra walked the dirt road, she came across a sign: **Casio City - 15 mi** The morning air was cool and normally Terra would have been ecstatic at the weather. Unfortunately, her legs were aching for a rest. _That walk would take me several hours anyway, might as well find a place to rest for a little bit._

Above her, to the left, were mountains and she spotted a cave closer to the top. Terra took a swift look around her to see if anyone were around. She hesitantly brought her hands out in front of her and they began glowing yellow with power. Her hands felt warm with the glow. When she used her powers, she could feel it. Inside her chest, it felt like a ball of energy; the ball of energy was warm and bright, but it always became hotter and hotter until it might burn her from the inside. She could feel the earth around her move and the rumbling noises grew louder. Louder and louder. The rumbling felt deafening to her ears. She felt hot, sweat was covering her body. Her vision was blurring and she couldn't breathe anymore. Terra recoiled in fear, cradling her hands to her chest. The rumbling stopped immediately and the world was silent again. _Breathe in….. breathe out…_ She tried to regain her composure before she sighed and cursed at the ground. _I guess I'm doing this the old fashioned way_ , she thought, and dug for a pair of brown gloves in her backpack before she began climbing.

Finally in the cave, Terra laid on the ground for several minutes catching her breath. She stared at the ceiling of the cave, which gave her funny feelings. There's this odd feeling a person gets inside when they're in a similar place that they were before. It's different from nostalgia because that is more of a nice feeling, bittersweet at worst. It's like nostalgia for the bad times in a person's life and it's the opposite of comforting. The unsettled feeling made it difficult for Terra to fall asleep, but eventually her eyes drifted closed.

* * *

Red X stood at the city limits and looked out over the city, or what used to be the city. He walked silently along the main road which was covered in cracks and missing chunks of asphalt. He transported himself to the top of a building for a better look. The roads were broken, buildings had fallen, glass scattered everywhere, the occasional paper flew through the air; _looks like no one's home,_ Red X squinted, unsure of what to make of the abandoned and broken city. _If no one is here, no one will mind if I borrow a few things._

Red X walked through the dead city where not even his footsteps made a sound until he reached what used to be a highly secured tech company. He entered through the main door, which was hanging by a single hinge. The glass the covered that floor crunched beneath his shoes. Red X walked through the building with ease; the absence of trouble made him feel unsettled. _Is there anything more ominous than flickering lights in an abandoned building?_ He made it to the room he was looking for. A sign read on the door: **!CAUTION! Xenothium Storage**. The door fell in with nothing but a light push and Red X looked around the room. Vials of Xenothium were scattered along the floor, some even spilled out onto the floor along with glass, machinery, and electrical wires. _Guess someone beat me to it_ , he thought as he walked forward into the room, _there's nothing left._

It was almost noon and the sun was high in the sky, but the city was dark and dreary from the fog. Red X explored a few buildings, stealing a couple weapons and food here and there. _All the Xenothium might be stolen, but stealing all the beds in this place is much more unlikely_ , he thought, searching for a decent place to rest. He found an abandoned apartment. It was trashed with the windows busted in and chunks of drywall littering the floor. The wires sticking out around the house were sparking. There was a bedroom upstairs with a queen sized bed still intact. Red X shook the covers and hopped onto the bed, instantly falling asleep.

* * *

 _ **CRASH!**_ Red X's eyes shot open to the sound of glass shattering. He squinted at the ceiling as he listened for more noises. _**Crunch crunch crunch.**_ Footsteps, and they were coming closer. The room was dark, night must have fallen. The footsteps were next to the bedroom. Red X silently made his way near the door, bo-staff in hand. A figure appeared in the door frame next and Red X made no hesitation to swing his staff towards the mystery person. As quickly as he brought his staff down, the figure turned and met his staff with a small silver knife. They both pushed against the other, trying to gain the upperhand. Red X soon overpowered the figure, knocking the knife out of their hands and promptly swiping their legs out from under them. They fell hard on the ground and let out a grunt of pain.

The moonlight came through the broken windows, making the mystery person more visible. "Oh, it's you." Red X stated upon recognizing the blonde girl from before.

Terra coughed from having the wind knocked out of her during the fall and she sat up a little. She looked up at Red X and glared as she recognized him too. "Yeah, it's me. Thanks for the warm welcome." She replied with hostility before starting to stand.

Red X held out a hand to help her, "Sorry."

She ignored his hand and stood on her own. Terra crossed her arms, "Sorry?" She raised her eyebrows and Red X withdrew his hand in confusion.

"Uh yes. It's a polite word to say when you easily knock someone to the ground with little to no effort." He replied, mocking how effortlessly he overpowered her.

Hot anger flashed in her blue eyes, "Excuse me if I don't feel comfortable beating up random strangers like you do."

Her cheeks were burning bright red, easily visible even in the darkness. The sight made Red X stifle the laugh in his throat. "No need to explain yourself, darling. I don't care to argue about the past."

"Why are you here?" Terra demanded.

"Why are you?" he responded without a moment's hesitation.

"I asked you first," she huffed in annoyance

Red X chuckled at her reply, "I don't play by those rules, kid. I only play by my own."

Terra sighed and caved, "Fine. Don't tell me." She rolled her eyes and started for the exit. "Good luck with whatever. But I hope you know, that bed has bed bugs." she stated before disappearing into the darkness.

Red X stared after her for a moment and shuddered inwardly at the bed bugs comment before leaving. He watched her making her way down the broken street. She looked as though she had a clear destination in mind. He decided to follow her. As usual, he had nothing better to do and her sudden appearance here did seem a bit interesting and unusual.

A small white house sat on the corner of the street, half of it caved in. Terra stood on the sidewalk facing the door. Her facial expression didn't change as she took in the damage. She walked the few steps to the door and opened it. There was nothing inside the house but broken walls and damaged furniture.

Red X wanted to say something, hoping a joke might lighten the dark mood that the filled the air, but thought better of it. Terra turned around to find Red X standing there. She jumped slightly in surprise, "Can I help you?" Her voice was thick.

"I mentioned before that I didn't need help, didn't I?"

Terra said nothing, just stared out at the broken city. Red X studied her. He wasn't sure why she was at this particular house, but whatever she was hoping to find wasn't there. Or if it had been, it's destroyed now. _That makes two of us. What a disappointing city._

"If you're looking for a place to crash, I can help you find better living conditions."

Terra remained silent as she held herself with her arms. Red X, despite his better judgement, felt sorry for the strange girl. "I can't promise anything about it being free of bed bugs though. That type of quality home costs extra." He held out his hand like a peace offering.

"I don't need your pity help." Terra replied in a snap, but her voice was thick with tears. She choked them down.

"It's not pity as it's just as much for my gain. You'll owe me for my help. I'm not sure how useful you'll actually be to me seeing how easily you get your ass kicked," he paused to watch her reaction. Her lips twitched upwards a little into a slight smile at his playful mocking. "But I have a weakness for surprises," he finished.

Terra didn't take his hand, but instead walked down the steps next to him. _Guess this is my roommate for the night,_ she thought as she followed Red X through the streets. _It's probably more than I deserve so I guess I should be grateful._ Terra looked around the city, _what the hell happened here?_


	3. Chapter 3

After a rough night sleeping on lumpy beds in a broken down building, Red X awoke and looked around the room. Sunlight glimmered through the broken window of their makeshift bedroom, making a spotlight of the mess scattering the floor. The presence of another person instantly startled him making his heart jump before he realized that the person wasn't an intruder. He looked outside as the sun slowly rose higher, _if I could access the computer in that place, I could figure out where they got their supply of Xentothium.. Though, I don't really need her help for that. But maybe she knows something, she seems like she's been here before.._

Terra stirred in her sleep before slowly opening her eyes. She jumped back and fell off the bed upon noticing Red X standing in the corner of the room. She hit the floor with a loud thud. Red X hardly reacted, besides looking in her general direction, as she stood back up and rubbed her head, "Ouch.. uh, sorry.. not really used to the company."

Red X nodded. He looked back out the window, "Well, kid, looks like it's time to get going."

Terra rubbed her eyes as the sunlight brightened and shrugged. She had agreed to help him with whatever since he gave her a place to crash. She could have done that on her own probably, but it was nice to have a friend. _He's not your friend.. just someone convenient for now. Don't forget that._

Once they were outside, Terra pulled an apple out of her backpack and bit into it. "So do you not care for the most important meal of the day or what?"

"It's a bit hard to eat food through a mask," her face instantly flushed, embarrassed that she had asked such an obvious question, "though I guess if you wanted to see me try, I could but entertainment like that doesn't come cheap." Though he was kidding around, his tone remained as flat. Terra raised her eyebrows but said nothing as she followed him to yet another broken building.

On the way there, Red X questioned her about the current damage to the city. Anger burned inside her from an accusation that he never placed on her but previous destroyed cities caused her to place on herself along with horrible guilt. She simply replied that she didn't know and they continued the walk in silence.

* * *

Red X easily navigated to the building he went to the previous day. Uneasiness spread over Terra as Red X led her through the building. She kept a safe distance behind him and kept one hand against the knife in her belt. _He might be interesting, sure, but that doesn't mean he's trustworthy._ Glass crunched and he was starting to get annoyed at the sound. Finally, he made it to the Xenothium storage. Terra was quiet, except for her footsteps. She took in the surroundings and tried to make sense of the strange scenery. She felt on edge as though something bad was going to happen. As Red X continued into the room, Terra stayed put in the doorway.

Terra watched him but never moved. She watched as Red X carelessly stepped over glass and broken machinery to get to the computer on the far right of the room. He opened up panels from underneath, not caring for how loud the sound echoed through the building, and began messing with the wiring, using different red colored gadgets to repair it. Finally, something popped up on the cracked screen above him. He began typing on the computer without another word.

Curiosity overpowered her caution and she carefully walked over the broken vials to stand next to Red X. The room was tinted dark green except for the light coming in from the doorway and the light on the computer screen. She watched as he bypassed the security system with ease after putting a small red flashdrive into the computer. It took several minutes to load before files popped up next. He sorted through each file, clearly intent on finding specific information. Terra racked her brain for information on Xenothium as that was a word that caught her eye on the monitor. A compound of some sort, that much she knew. Suddenly a map showed up on the screen, lighting the room with an odd shade of blue, with three different markers blinking. They all seemed about the same distance from here, farther east but one closer northeast and the other closer southeast. None of them were less than 100 miles from their current location and they were several hours driving wise from each other.

After mentally writing down the locations and city names, Red X turned away from the computer. _I know where I need to go, I don't need her help and she has no useful information. Better to go alone._ "I've got some stuff to take care of and answers to find. I don't need to babysit you while I do it. You can make even on the fact that you owe me later."

Terra squinted her eyes, "I could have found a bed on my own actually."

"Whatever you say, kid. Stay here if you'd like. I'll catch ya later."

With a wave of his hand, Red X started walking out the door before she had a chance to retort. Terra huffed with anger at his sudden cold nature. "I never said I planned on staying here. Just that, if anything, you owe me one. I informed you of your bed bug infestation. You're welcome." Terra said as she caught up with him towards in the hallway.

He continued through the building with no reply. Once they were outside, Red X looked out towards the highway. "I'm looking for something specific and a partner in crime isn't it. Sorry."

"I'm looking for something too. I mean, I was looking for something else but now.. another thing. Since I came here. I think I should look for that thing first? What I was originally looking for wasn't quite a thing anyway so I guess I'm not looking for that right now," Red X stared at Terra as she tried to explain the jumbled mess spilling out of her mouth. She paused and looked at the ground, "I need to find answers too. For what happened here, I mean. I guess I don't need to, but.. I've got nothing else to do or nowhere else to go anyway." She felt silly for the sudden fear of loneliness creeping in again, but it was nice to have company, to still have the illusion of friendship and companionship.

A moment of silence passed between them. "I need to find a vehicle."

"There's a car dealership towards the south side of town, I can lead you there?"

Red X nodded, "Think we can find a nice ride?"

Terra smiled and started leading the way to the car dealership. Red X followed. "So," she said as she turned towards him, "you have a bunch of cool red doohickies but no cool red car? That's kind of disappointing."

"I had a motorcycle one. I crashed it during a race. I haven't gotten around to building a new one."

"You race in your freetime?" Terra chuckled, "I didn't take you for the Nascar type."

"Oh? And what type do you take me for?"

Terra thought for a moment before shrugging.

"I'm not into Nascar. I was in the race for my own reasons and my own gain, nothing more." Terra nodded at his answer.

"This place use to be pretty nice, ya know," she said after a minute. "There was a lot of crime for such a small city, but it wasn't too bad of a place. There was a bakery near where we're going that sold amazing doughnuts."

"I guess I'll have to take your word for it." Red X thought about asking if she had lived here but thought better of it. He didn't care to ask about stranger's pasts and he doubted she would want to answer if he had.

* * *

They made it to the car dealership within 2 and a half hours. The trip was mostly silent except for the occasional information Terra gave Red X about the town. The parking lot was empty aside from broken cars parts littering the ground along with shattered glass and the occasional destroyed car here and there.

"Maybe if we're lucky, we'll find a whole car instead of these scraps of metal that are lying around." Terra said, sarcasm coating her tone.

Red X knocked over a busted car engine, the metal loudly clanging once it hit the ground, "Do you consider yourself 'lucky'?"

"The opposite."

"I don't need luck." Red X walked through the parking lot towards the building. "There are probably some show cars inside that would still be intact. The building looks less damaged than most others." The front door was locked and he pulled out another red gadget to open it.

Once inside, motion sensor lights came on. The room looked mostly untouched aside from papers scattered on the floor and a few furniture pieces turned over. To the right was a huge room with show cars on display. The cars were new and the paint was shiny even in the dim room. Terra's eyes lit up, "Wow, can you imagine driving one of these things?"

A black camaro was parked to the left, "This one will do. It's the newest and fastest one here."

"Sure you're not just saying that because it goes with your outfit?" Terra giggled.

Red X's brows furrowed beneath his mask, unsure of how to respond. Not that the color was the only reason.. but it was, begrudgingly, a fairly large factor. He unlocked the car and slid inside. Once her was in the passenger seat, X took out a red mold that he stuck inside the ignition. The mold hardened and he turned it. The car started with ease and Red X smiled beneath his mask, he had been wondering when he would get to use his new toy. He created it right before he left Jump City. "Are you ready?" he asked, turning towards the blonde.

Terra stood there a moment, _I don't even know who this guy is.. but.. I guess he doesn't know me either. I can't really say that I'm a good person, I'm not a hero. But.. I can't say that I know what kind of person he is. Not like I have any other lead for this destroyed city as well.._ The girl shrugged, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." She hopped into the passenger seat and they drove out of the building and onto the road towards their next destination: Hawthorne, a city 120 miles southeast of their present location.

* * *

Author's Notes: Sorry for a later update. I was gonna try for once a week, but I've been sick. I'll always do my very best to upload at the very least once a month. But it will hopefully be more like once every 1-2 weeks 3


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